The Kibbutz Identity: A Rendezvous between a Commune and a Cooperative

During the last two decades there is an on-going discussion on the identity of the kibbutz. If in the past there was almost a consensus on its being a special type of a commune, today there is no agreement on its identity. This is because a new type of kibbutz has emerged: the renewed kibbutz which allows differential salary, partial ownership of assets and reduced mutual responsibilities among members.

                                    Many kibbutz leaders are arguing and even take action to prove that because of the changes the kibbutz communities have introduced into their internal structure and processes, the renewed kibbutz is a cooperative. Is the renewed kibbutz still a commune? Is it a cooperative? Why is it so important to define the kibbutz as a cooperative?

                                    In order to answer these questions, we shall analyze the typical characteristics of a commune and see what is left of them in 80% of the kibbutz communities that have changed from the collective model to the renewed model. We shall then look at the characteristics of different types of cooperatives and see which of them the renewed kibbutz has adopted and which it did not. This will enable us to integrate its communal and cooperative characteristics in order to form a relevant definition of the renewed kibbutz. Finally, we shall show that the central actors in this debate are influenced by socio-political motives as well as by survival issues.